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What is a CPM? Generate revenue through impressions

By Aliza P. Sherman

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

So you want to sell advertising on your site? The basis forpricing your Web site's advertising space is the CPM. CPMstands for cost per thousand (the "M" is for theFrench word for "thousand," which is"millier"). When a visitor comes to your site anddownloads a page with a banner ad, that generates what's calleda "page view" or "impression."

You can set a price for each impression, meaning the number oftimes a visitor sees your advertiser's ads, but the commonmethod of selling impressions is in lumps of 1,000. So if you valueeach impression at 2 cents, then 1,000 impressions would cost $20(a fair price). If your visitors generate 5,000 impressions permonth, you can make $100 per month on advertising and so on.

Aliza Sherman is an entrepreneur and author of Cybergrrl:A Woman's Guide to the World Wide Web (Ballantine Books).She is currently working on her next book and new company.

Aliza Sherman is a web pioneer, e-entrepreneur and author of eight books, including

PowerTools for Women in Business.

Her work can be found at mediaegg.com.

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